Spiritual Beachheads

Even in a city, the intensity of spiritual forces of evil will vary.

When Christians go to a new city to establish a new church, they tend to go to the centre of the city. This is a mistake, as the centre is the place where the spiritual opposition will be strongest. They will often find homes in suburbs all over the city. This isolation leaves them spiritually vulnerable and easy for the enemy to pick off one at a time.

Christians should identify the areas of the city where the enemy is weakest. This will often be a place where some people have chosen not to recognise the authority of the political powers and are not vulnerable to the spiritual forces released by them. It might be a place where a Person of Peace is living. Jesus told the apostles to look for the Person of Peace when they went to a new town (Luke 10:5-7) as they will be living in a place where spiritual interference is minimal.

Christian apostles going to a new city should establish a spiritual beachhead. Three or six should submit to each other to provide a wall of spiritual protection around them. (The command to resist the devil is plural (James 4:7). They should direct their caring, sharing and healing activity towards the people living around them and draw them into the place of peace they have established.

We do not need to study evil to know where to establish a beachhead. We just need to be in the right place together with other Christians who can support us in the spiritual struggle. If we listen to the Holy Spirit, he can show the place to go. Jacob did not need to understand the spiritual world, he just had to be in the right place (Gen 28:16-17). And if we have ended up in the wrong place, we should shake the dust from out feet and go where the Holy Spirit leads.